The invention relates to a hair grooming brush having a handle and bristles, most commonly a brush. Prior art brushes come in a variety of designs. The prior art brushes having straight bristles or combs with straight or curved bristles.
Most of the present conventional hair grooming brushes with straight shaped bristles, are either sparsely populated with such bristles or too densely populated. Hair grooming brushes with sparsely populated bristles just pass through the hair, providing minimal massaging or combing effect to the hair. Those hair grooming brushes with densely populated bristles tend to become entangled in the hair. Prior art brushes only have straight bristles and are not found with curved bristles. Combs with curved bristles only have one row of bristles, so combs do not steadily massage the scalp and provide waviness to the hair strands. A comb with wavy bristles would have to be pulled through the hair at a very rapid and uncomfortable speed, in order to emulate the benefits of a brush with numerous rows of curved bristles.
The straight bristles can be only forcibly pulled through the tangled hair and cause breaking of the hair strands. Straight bristles provide minimal lateral action that would serve to separate the tangled hair strands. The lateral action being the force that would tend to create a greater distance between the outer edge of the circumference of each bristle. The hair strands would be resting on the edge of the bristle, so as the distance between the bristle circumference edge increases, this lateral force would then tend to separate the hair strands as the distance between the hair strands also increases.
Hair grooming brushes with straight bristles create a massaging effect by the person placing force upon the brush in the direction of the scalp. This force can be inconsistent and erratic as the combing action occurs. Combs have only one row of bristles that provide minimal massaging effect, when compared to a brush with many rows of bristles. Combs with their one row of bristles, would need to be passed rapidly through the hair strands to simulate the effects of a multiple rowed brush. The rapid movement of a comb would tend to snag the hair strands and cause discomfort.
Hair grooming brushes with straight bristles do not provide any waving or curling effect to the hair. The straight bristles simply pass through the hair without applying any lateral force that would bend and shape the hair. Brushes with straight bristles require the user to twist the hair grooming brush to create any curling or waving effect to the bristles. Combs with one row apply pressure to the hair strands for only a short period of time. There is simply not enough continuous contact between the comb and the hair strands to provide proper waving and curling of the hair.
The shortcomings of the prior art hair grooming brushes show the need for a brush that will massage the hair and scalp, while still moving easily through the hair and providing the proper combing effect. The desire of so many individuals to add a natural waving effect to their hairstyle and the failure of prior art brushes to provide that result emphasizes the need for such a hair grooming brushes.
It is an object of the present invention, with its curved bristles, to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art hair grooming brushes that have only straight bristles or provide only one row of curved bristles. Multiple rows of curved bristles provide a continuous untangling action as the brush passes through the hair strands. Another advantage of multiple rows of curved bristles is the firm and continuous massaging effect upon the scalp as the brush interacts with the scalp and hair strands.
Prior art brushes only have straight bristles and are not found with curved bristles. Combs with curved bristles only have one row of bristles, so combs do not steadily massage the scalp and provide waviness to the hair strands. A comb with wavy bristles would have to be pulled through the hair at a very rapid and uncomfortable speed, in order to emulate the benefits of a brush with numerous rows of curved bristles.
The hair grooming brush includes a platform and a plurality of rows with numerous bristles in each row attached to the platform. The platform includes a first section, a second section and a third section. Each bristle has a bristle tip and a bristle base. Each bristle is divided into a lower section, a middle section, and a tip section.
The bristles also have a plurality of bristle centers that are the center of the area of any given cross-section of the bristle. A bristle centerline follows about the continuous line formed by the bristle centers from the bristle tip to the bristle base. There is a bristle perpendicular axis that is a straight line perpendicular to the platform at the bristle base.
The curvature of the bristles is created by the distance between a point on the bristle perpendicular axis and the equivalent point on the bristle center line varying from about 0 to about 0.3 inches. The three different sections of the bristle, the lower, middle and tip sections, can be either straight or curved. Also, from about 10% to 90% of the bristles can be straight with the remainder being curved bristles.
It is an objective of the new hair grooming brush to provide a massage to the hair and scalp. A hair grooming brush with many rows of curved bristles can create a massaging effect by the person placing force upon the brush in the direction of the scalp, just as the brushes with straight bristles do. Additionally, curved bristles tend to bend and retain some of the force, rather than transferring all of the force directly to the scalp, with the force gradually releasing to provide even massaging pressure. Numerous rows on the brush provide a steady and continuous contact upon the hair strands. The steady contact produces a pleasing massaging effect and promotes wavy hair.
The curvature of the bristles produces a springiness and a bending to the bristles when pressure is applied during the brushing action. The springiness of the bristle then translates into a massaging effect upon the hair and scalp. Also, the curvature of the bristles provides a healthy shaking effect to the root of the hair. The temporary retention and gradual release of the force create a consistent massaging force upon the scalp. Each individual curved bristle produces a greater massage effect than is accomplished by a single straight bristle, this allows the bristles to be spaced farther apart and minimizes the tangling of the hair within the bristles. The bristles can be randomly placed on the platform of the brush, which provides random yet frequent massaging of the scalp. The rows of bristles can be varied between a row of straight bristles and an alternate row of curved bristles.
The curved bristles are also more effective in untangling the hair. Curved bristles provide lateral action that serves to separate the tangled hair strands. As the brush is pulled through the hair the distance between the outer circumference edge of the bristles can increase and decrease significantly, because the distance from the perpendicular axis to the outer edge of the bristle varies over the height of the curved bristle. Since the hair strands are lying on the bristles, this increasing and decreasing of distance between the perpendicular axis and outer edge tends to pull the hair strands apart, creating an effect that serves to untangle the hair strands.
Another advantage is the natural waving effect given to the hairstyle by the waved bristles. The curvature of the bristles gently bends and shapes the strands of hair to provide a waving effect and the appearance of thicker hair.
The bristles may be of varying materials that provide the proper stiffness and resiliency to render the desired massaging to the scalp and natural waviness to the hair. The tip may be a plastic or metal ball, which provides a gentle massage effect to the scalp in contrast to the sharper pointed bristle tips that dig deeper into the scalp and create a more vigorous and stimulating massage. The mixture of bristles may be from 10% to 90% straight, with the remainder being curved bristles. There are many combinations of bristle formations available including varying the mixture of straight and curved bristles; alternating the bristle style between adjacent rows; and varying the bristle style between the first, second and third section of the platform.
The invention is in the form of a brush. Commonly the brush would have a handle, although a strap may also be used for holding the brush. The strapped brush is more commonly used for the grooming of animals.
The invention is further described in the appended drawings, description and claims.